The legislation, which was introduced at the beginning of the month by Rep. Doug Brannon, R-Spartanburg, would require home-schooled students to take standardized testing and would take away one of the three options they have to register.

“I have had a huge outpouring of emails and letters and telephone calls in opposition to that bill and I have not assigned that bill to a subcommittee,” Owens, House Education and Public Works chairman, said Wednesday. “At this point having witnessed all the cosponsors deserting that bill and hearing the main sponsor has no desire to advance that bill, at this point I would say that bill is not moving forward.”

The articles states a Facebook group – “STOP Proposed Bill H3478” – gained 2,600 members so far. Social media is an effective way to share grassroots information, go at these bills and make legislators pay attention.

It’s hard to understand how a group such as SCAIHS gained a foothold in state law documentation as an option. The states can charge and certainly do charge high registration fees for licenses and such, but I’m baffled the government can direct citizens to pay fees to a separate organization in this manner.

“We are Option 3 home-schoolers, and Option 3 basically means you go through an accountability association and you keep your own records,” she said. “If Option 3 is taken off the table, we either have to go through the school district or we have to go through an association where it’s about $400 a year to register my children to home-school. As a family of six, we can’t afford that.”

Along with the required high fees, the group seems to have strong ties to a particular Christian homeschool lobbying group and highly recommends membership in the application, while touting the same group in their sidebar. Not only that, a Statement of Commitment must be signed off by parents which states: “As members of the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools, we agree that the foundation of home schooling is built, in part, on the traditional family, established by a marriage between one man and one woman.” This second “option” isn’t really an option for single parent homeschoolers and/or those not willing to sign off on that philosophy.

It’s good that South Carolina homeschoolers don’t lose that third option, even as I wonder how current restrictive laws such as South Carolina’s can legally exist.